Jason Isbell: Classic Or Dud?

Jason Isbell buried fudge round boy in such a Jason Isbell way. pic.twitter.com/qeO9EgD2ra

— Dave Guido (@Devoguido) October 10, 2023

Kudos to @JasonIsbell for using the right "wrong" guitar! Jason Isbell plays Johnny B. Goode at Michael J. Fox Foundation gig – and makes sure to choose the right guitar for the job https://t.co/rsSvplABdO

— Phil Peters (@faivy) November 15, 2023

Also, I believe Isbell finally got new teeth:

Finally I can tell you all- the teeth were in preparation for my role in Killers of The Flower Moon. I prepared for 40 years. These my real teeth pic.twitter.com/wEAUBfyrK7

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) November 9, 2023

Yeah, he went on to say they were affecting his breathing, etc. As a fellow bad teeth haver, I can confirm there are many side-effects to having a mouthful of junk.

Just now saw this New West sale through 27th---incl ltd. ed. color vinyl expanded Sirens, reg $32.00, now $19.20, with 4 bonus tracks, which I haven't heard (good?) I think there's a non-ltd., black vinyl expanded, but it's out of stock. As for this 'un:

12", 2-LP
The debut album from accomplished guitarist and songwriter
Jason Isbell, formerly of Drive-By Truckers (DBT), is reissued with 4 unreleased tracks from the original recording sessions. The addition of those 4 extra songs finds Sirens Of The Ditch clocking in at 15 total tracks.

Sirens Of The Ditch’s mystical quality can be partially attributed to the
FAME recording studio (Aretha Franklin, Duane Allman, Otis Redding) in
Isbell’s hometown of Muscle Shoals, AL where the album was recorded.
Co-produced by Isbell and Patterson Hood (DBT), Sirens Of The Ditch features Isbell singing lead vocals and playing guitar throughout, joined by Shonna Tucker (Formerly of DBT) on Bass and Brad Morgan (DBT) on drums. Several musicians pop in for cameos including Spooner Oldham and David Hood (Patterson’s father) on “Down In A Hole”, John Neff (Formerly of DBT) on “Dress Blues” and Patterson himself guests on “Shotgun Wedding”.

TRACKLIST:

Side A -

Brand New Kind Of Actress
Down In A Hole
Try
Chicago Promenade
Side B -

Dress Blues
Grown
Hurricanes And Hand Grenades
In A Razor Town
Side C -

Shotgun Wedding
The Magician
The Devil Is My Running Mate
Side D -

Whisper*
Crystal Clear*
The Assassin*
Racetrack Romeo*
*Previously Unreleased

That's always been a fave, one of his most consistent. My review is copied here, because Voice links can get pretty wonky:
https://myvil.blogspot.com/2016/06/sirens-of-ditch.html

Don't really know why this is a video of a TV screen, and this clip could have been posted on a number of different threads, but I guess last night he sat in with Dinosaur Jr. for a cover of "Cortez the Killer:"

pic.twitter.com/x30d4xYsCG

— kyle (@kyle_matteson) December 7, 2023

His DBT songs are some of the best DBT songs, but his solo career leaves me cold. What exactly is a 'brand new kind of actress?'

I 100% agree with that assessment

I've only recently come around to him as a solo artist, tbh, despite being an OG DBT fan. But I've really grown to appreciate his taste, in terms of his songwriting (subject matter, attention to detail, lyrics) but also in terms of his playing/arranging, etc.

Proper YouTube of that "Cortez"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYDQtSD8XIw

Most of my neighborhood friends think this guy is the greatest living songwriter. I dunno. I heard "Volunteer" without knowing who it was, thought it was really, really good, listened to the rest of the album and . . . hmm. Too much of it sounds like a guy putting on a Southern suit. Maybe I need to give it more time.

I just wish he he sounded more like skynyrd but maybe that’s not fair

This guy played the Grand Ole Opry when he was 16. I think the Southern suit fits well.

He's never topped "Goddamn Lonely Love" and a couple other DBT tracks, but I recognize him as a force for good, particularly when he plays guitar on Amanda Shires' and her associates' songs.

Not necessarily saying it applies here, but there a number of southerners with deep bonafides who still come off like they're wearing the "Southern Suit"--it's just the beats they hit.

Southeastern is still great but I’ve never really gone back to the later solo albums after a listen or two. They just don’t sound that great, kind of midtempo and safe.

y’all are a bunch of grinches lol

personally i love his songwriting
& i think he’s only gotten better over the years, something like “Cast Iron Skillet” or “White Beretta” to me is proof of that.

Jason was a great addition to DBT back in the day but his solo career mostly feels like Music Your Boss Likes

yeah, Goddamn Lonely Love is great, but he has, imo, topped or equaled it several times now, which is just proof of how great he is.

Outfit (I guess this was before GLL, but it's still my favorite of his)
Dress Blues
Alabama Pines
Elephant
24 Frames
Speed Trap Town
Cumberland Gap
If We Were Vampires
Cast Iron Skillet
When We Were Close

I mean, I'm a bit bored with Jason, too, and I am a truly staunch believer that art isn't objectively good or bad, but a bunch of those are about as close to objectively great as it gets. I don't know how you can listen to those and not believe this dude isn't firmly at the very top songwriting tier.

With that said, his albums *have* been a bit too midtempo and Music Your Boss Likes for a decade, though I really like The Nashville Sound and Weathervanes is better than I expected it to be. Something More Than Free and Reunions are snoozers, though. Again, imo.

"Relatively Easy" and "It Gets Easier" also work.

does this guy hold the distinction of being the only artist liked by both your boss and ilm?

I listened to Alpines list and it was good ! Thanks

I just love how thoughtful he is, as a person and as a writer. He's one of those songwriters that worships but doesn't really romanticize the craft. He doesn't boast of songs coming to him out of the blue, he talks about how much work it takes to write a good song, how many drafts, how many revisions, how many tweaks and changes to get them where they need to be. I think, possibly, that can lead to a deceptively subdued outcome, since everything has been so worked out and worked over, but the lyrics are always on point and they tear it up live, which implies he understands his records are their own thing. Unlike the Truckers, who are functionally the same live as they are on record, and are about as unfussy as it gets in both situations. (Seeing Hood down the street solo tonight and tomorrow!)

Anyway, a good way to sum up Isbell is that he's said his favorite album is the Cure's "Disintegration," and per that Dino Jr. performance, he boasted that he also sat in with the Punch Brothers earlier that night. I don't hear most of the music he's praised over the years in his own music, but I think he's just very comfortable in his lane and knows not to go over the line. Again, that can give the illusion of playing it safe, but then you look at the subject matter he's writing about and there's really nothing safe about that.

great post josh - otm

I would add that I respect the hell out of him and am secretly jealous as well. We're about the same age, lived in Athens at the same time, even had a friend or two in common, but he's the one jamming with my childhood guitar hero and making music. meanwhile no one wants to listen to my sad country songs :/

we do, Heez! are they online somewhere?

ha, sure but i should say they never get out of draft form which may be my reason for lagging behind Isbell. here's one.

that doesn't help either. here

back to isbell, it's not surprising at all that a guy in his early 20s who joined the most notorious hard partying band alive had issues with drinking. in fact i hope patterson and cooley are living much healthier lives. i haven't seen them in a bit, are they still passing a bottle of whiskey around the stage every show?

no they haven’t done that in a good while, i think once Shonna left the band they calmed down somewhat in that regard at least

I know Shonna's predecessor Earl Hicks left due to too much partying. And I know Cooley cut down (out?) the drinking when it got to be a problem, and/or when he became a dad. It's maybe no coincidence that the band lineup has remained stable since everyone more or less got cleaned up.

Isbell ... it's amazing how young the guy was when he joined. It's not quite Tommy Stinson, but iirc he was 22 when he joined the band (Hood is 15 years older than him, Cooley 13 years older). I think Isbell said he took his first ever flight the day after he joined the band, on a European tour, and it was all downhill from there. That said, I saw the hell out of the Truckers when he was in the band (and before! and after!) and I never saw him, or any of them, fuck the show up.

His favorite record is disintegration? Wtf

I liked his DBT output (favorite: "TVA") but have repeatedly failed to love his albums though he always has some tracks that really show he's a master song-story teller. But thanks to Alpine Static and some other suggestions, the best bits make a great best-of! I pulled from the following:

Live At Twist & Shout: Goddamn Lonely Love, Outfit
Sirens Of The Ditch: Dress Blues
Here We Rest: Alabama Pines
Southeastern: Elephant, Relatively Easy
Something More Than Free: 24 Frames, Speed Trap Town
The Nashville Sound: Cumberland Gap, If We Were Vampires
Reunions: It Gets Easier
Weathervanes: Cast Iron Skillet, When We Were Close, White Beretta

Anyone else have suggestions? How about something from the self-titled album?

Self-Titled: Cigarettes & Wine
(acoustic bonus version from Deluxe Edition is nice too)

also:
Here We Rest: Codeine
SouthEastern: Super 8
Georgia Blue: Sometimes Salvation

Oh a new profile/interview of him in GQ by Kaleb Horton? Go on, then.

https://www.gq.com/story/jason-isbell-just-another-actor-with-a-night-job

my favorite writer & my favorite singer. great piece!

WXPN always plays that "Death Wish" single when I'm driving my kid to school. It's been stuck in my head for months.

good song

he and shires are splitting

Normally couldn't possibly care less about celebrity and musician marriages, but was surprised to feel kinda sad about this one. They both seem like really good people doing good things in the world, hope they both find happiness.

Aw.

xp totally

Their last albums hinted at Rumours-esque turmoil.

Isbell solo does nothing for me but Drive By Truckers were the most important band in the world to me during the years he was in the group and my first thought upon seeing the news was that I hope he can maintain his sobriety through this bit of turmoil

he just posted on his 11th sober anniversary.

Nice, that’s good news, I figured that having almost centered his career around his sobriety that he’d be pretty solid in it at this point (plus, it’s been over a decade), but it always seemed like his wife was the final glob of glue holding it all together and that if that ever came undone anything could happen.

That sucks. No 40 years together

I sobered up
I swore off that stuff
Forever this time

(It's kind of interesting that if you listen to live recordings, that's an instant applause line - when one presumes that 73% of the audience is holding a Bud Lite at that precise moment. I cannot pretend to understand the world.)

I'm kind of surprised people are surprised by this. For several years it's seemed like it could boil over at any second (and probably did multiple times).